Open Thread

Open Thread

Mark Noonan43 Comments

I got a Parler account. It advertises itself as the alternative to the left social media giants – we’ll see how it goes; a few teething problems as masses of people sign up, but it works pretty well and may do fine.

As more information comes out about the Mueller Report, it seems clear to me that it is a pack of malicious lies. I noted before it came out that it would be as lurid as possible, but also wouldn’t have anything on Trump, and that is proving correct. What is amazing, though, is how badly they constructed the lurid lies: they’re being easily knocked down, one after another. Ace – and others – have theorized that the report, itself, was meant as no more than a hook to hang Trump on. Make the report; turn it in; make it difficult for Barr to release it quickly and then selectively leak the lurid bits to build a public case that Trump has to go. Barr stopped that cold with his summary pointing out that there was no collusion or obstruction.

As for Barr, I suspect he’s further along in his efforts to find out what really happened than we think. What will come of it? I don’t know: it could be that some of the worst players in all this kept their hands legally clean…and to really unravel it we would need people willing to testify against their co-conspirators in return for reduced sentences…but, if the big boys kept their act together, we might only be able to go after some small fry who won’t be able to explain the totality of the coup attempt. I do hope that a lot of people wind up in jail over this – but I’m not sure it will be possible.

There’s a poll out which asserts Americans are more worried about Fake News than terrorism – which is a correct assessment. Terrorists can kill, but the lies in our MSM could trigger a nation-destroying civil war. 100% of the credit for people really waking up to how dishonest the MSM is goes to Trump…without him relentlessly hammering the MSM for their lies, they’d still largely be getting away with them.

RSM notes an anti-lesbian hate crime in Tennessee which, for some bizarre reason, hasn’t become a national news story. Watch the video, and you’ll see why.

Here’s a poll which is part of the Democrats’ battle space prep for 2020: allegedly shows Biden beating Trump in Texas by four percentage points. Trump beat Hillary by nine percentage points in 2016. Ask yourself: is there one thing – one thing, at all – which has Trump has done since 2016 which would make Texans sour on him to the point that the Texas vote for the Democrat would go from 43% to 48%? Of course there is no such thing – and the Texas economy is booming. There is zero – and I mean absolutely zero – chance that any Democrat beats Trump in Texas in 2020. And everyone involved in politics knows this. But, here’s the poll…and Democrats will tout it and GOPers in Texas (some, anyways) will wring their hands…but it is a garbage poll designed to deflate GOP spirits; that is all it is.

New York City is, like Los Angeles, developing a very bad rat problem. All part of the Progressive program to bring back bubonic plagues.

AOC asserts that Manafort should be released rather than kept in solitary at Rikers. Tip of the hat to the Commie on this one: she’s better, at least here, than most of her fellow Progressives. The bottom line is that Manafort was transferred to Rikers to pressure him. The Democrats need someone – anyone – to testify under oath that Trump broke a law. Treating Manafort like he’s some sort of crazed killer is an excellent way to break him. Trump should pardon Manafort (of course, another theory put out there is that they’ve done this to get Trump to issue a pardon so they can say “aha! That’s why Manfort didn’t talk!”. Even so: pardon him).

Open Thread

Mark Noonan33 Comments

LAPD officers have contracted typhoid – you know: the filth-borne disease which doesn’t affect modern nations. But, it’s LA – now, a Third World sh** hole. Seriously: watch the video at the link. It isn’t just a little bit of trash here and there…it is piles of garbage lining entire city blocks…piled several feet high. Someone needs to take charge here – a reminder that the bubonic plague – the infamous Black Death of the 14th century – was carried by rats and fleas. Lots of people could get sick and die if this isn’t taken care of immediately.

A historian (David Garrow) is claiming that Martin Luther King was, well, a bad guy. Seriously, if the stories are true, then the man was simply no good. Now, I’m in no position to judge the truthfulness of the claims – in fact, hardly anyone is because hardly anyone has even seen the evidence this guy says he has. Garrow has, naturally, come under fire: there are lots of people heavily invested in the public persona of King. And Garrow’s claims aren’t run-of-the-mill stuff. Its not that King had affairs – this has long been known – but that King was sexually abusive. And if anyone is thinking that Garrow is some right-winger smearing King: Garrow is a member of Democratic Socialists of America.

What strikes me about the story – outside the claims made against King – is that this is all based on FBI surveillance of King. Now, we’ve all long known that the FBI under Hoover had it in for King, but if the claims are true, then the FBI obtained rock-solid evidence of sex crimes and then did nothing about it. Back in 1977, a judge ordered the recordings embargoed until 2027…which I find to be outrageous. King has been dead since 1968. Most of his close associates are also dead. There is no rational reason to keep the tapes secret from their owners: the people of the United States. The Deep State has been around a long while, and I wonder what else we don’t know?

Lot of whines about Trump’s tariffs on Mexico causing a rise in avacado prices. Thing is, we grow them here: the only reason you go to Mexico to get them is that you want a slightly higher profit margin. So, screw you and your Mexican avacados: buy American.

Beware of grifters on the right – we do have people who try to sucker our guys into donating to allegedly right wing political campaigns when the money is really just spent on the guys running the grift. Personally, I think a good deal of these largely originate on the left or among the GOPe…deliberately trying to suck up the base’s money and blowing it, thus preventing it from being used effectively.

Open Thread

Mark Noonan47 Comments

A bit of foreign influence in our elections which the Democrats, MSMers and Never Trumpers won’t talk about – because it was Iran and it harmed the GOP.

Alabama tells a donor to take his money and shove it over the donor’s opposition to Alabama’s pro-life legislation.

AOC flashes the White Power sign – for you and me its and “ok” sign, of course…but, hey, the Left says it means White Power…so, why is AOC flashing it?

Former Florida Democrat gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum has been subpoenaed by the Feds. Seems like it has to do with some charity groups he worked for. My bet: he was running a con via non-profits…something I bet a very large number of non-profits so. My view is that a very large portion – perhaps of majority – of non-profits are actually just grifts designed to enrich the bosses of the non-profits.

Our Democrat governor in Nevada vetoed the Popular Vote bill passed by the State legislature. My view: Nevada is rapidly being Californicated, but there are still enough sane people here that the governor can’t go full screwball…and this was an easy way to appear moderate.

Never care what people say, always watch what they do. Rachel Maddow has been a premier Russia collusion booster…and her ratings are in the tank. People aren’t tuning in to listen to it any longer. Democrats would be making a huge mistake to impeach. OTOH, they might just want to keep it percolating deep into 2020.

Rumor is that Trump may punish Mexico with tariffs unless they get serious about securing the border. Thing is, I’m not sure Mexico can do that – the cartels profit heavily from the illegal crossings, and as they tend to horribly murder anyone who tries to stop them, who in Mexico would actually try to control the border?

Open Thread

Mark Noonan81 Comments

Listening to Democrats, I can only assume that they are really going to impeach the President. They can’t possibly believe they have 67 votes in the Senate to convict…but the way Democrats talk, it seems clear to me that they believe a majority wants Trump impeached. We’ll see how it comes out – but I suspect that Trump will come out the winner in that fight.

Meanwhile, the RNC is still blowing the doors off the DNC in fundraising – and most remarkably in the “small donor” segment. I keep hearing that everyone hates Trump, but I’ve yet to see that translate into practical reality.

We here in Nevada handed the State over to the Democrats in 2018 and, true to their paymasters in California, Nevada Democrats have passed national popular vote legislation, thus impounding our electoral votes to Democrat ballot-box stuffers in Los Angeles and San Francisco. This happens because Nevada Democrats – like all State-level Democrats – don’t give a damn about their States, but only dictatorial, national power.

Ace has an article about how frightening China’s “social credit” system is becoming, and points out that this is be beta test for its use in the United States. Don’t doubt Ace on that – the left very much wants such a system in order to punish anyone who does’t behave correctly: ie, behave in a manner approved of by the most recent and kook-left part of the global elite. Remember, while jail/torture/execution is a large tool in the tyrant’s tool kit, the Soviets learned long ago that the real way to control people is to make it impossible for them to simply live unless they are approved by the government. Give the liberals power long enough, and you won’t even be able to ride a bus without their permission.

Don Surber points out that vis a vis Iran, all Trump was ever doing was saber rattling to get Iran to back down a bit. We’ll see how it ultimately comes out, but I’ve always doubted that Trump would instigate a war. He’s a businessman who has the businessman’s natural abhorrence of war: it’s bad for business (unless you’re a defense contractor, which Trump isn’t). Trump is actually turning out to be quite effective in foreign policy – mostly because he eschews globalist theories. Iran – or another enemy – could do an overt act which makes war a reality, but in such a case it wouldn’t be Trump leading us to war, but taking charge of a war someone else started.

RSM looks at Alabama’s attitude towards abortion: bottom line, not a lot of Alabama women have abortions. Vastly smaller proportion than in, say, New York City. And that is the crux of the matter: there are several States, like Alabama, which simply don’t want abortion. It is all tied to culture and religion, of course: but in a pluralist Republic, we should be able to accommodate divergence. But liberals won’t allow that – they’re sitting there in their tiny, urban apartments feeding the cat and furious that some woman out there has such a satisfying sex life with her husband that she’s had three kids. They want to put a stop to that.

I’ve Written a Novel Open Thread

Mark Noonan10 Comments

Well, I’m finally going to get on publishing the novel – still a few tweaks to be made to it, so I project July 1st as my self publish date. But, we’ve got a book cover, at least!

 Book_Cover

I hope someone likes it. I do. Its been very fun to write. I don’t know how many of you are interested in what is called sci-fi/fantasy these days, but that is what it is. Though I prefer the more old-fashioned “fairy tale”. I wrote it because I wanted to tell a story. I’ve had them rolling around in my head, of various types, since I was a kid. This story, though, was inspired by another I was reading. And, also, by what I perceive as the sorry state of fairy tale writing these days. The heroes all seem to be conflicted these days and the stories seem rather dark and depressing. I wanted to get back to the way it should be: the heroes are just ordinary people thrust into astonishing circumstances and they have to find it within themselves to do the right thing. Anyways, it’ll be out soon, and I hope you will take a look.

Things Happening Fast Open Thread

Mark Noonan51 Comments

Legal Insurrection wonders: who will be the first to cut a deal? Thing is, until just now, there has never been that worry among the Left/Ruling Class. They don’t have to cut deals because they’ve already got them: if you have the right friends, nothing will happen to you no matter what you did wrong…and even in the rare instance where you have to face some jail time, it won’t be much and your friends will see you come out all right on the other end. But, now, we might have some people in power who won’t allow the powerful to skate…and, if so, then eventually, one of the people involved in the attempted coup will spill it.

Related: Democrats start to realize they are facing a debacle in 2020.

Also related: don’t get cocky, kids. Long way to go.

The national debt: it is still a problem. Trump won’t deal with it unless forced to by circumstances, and if he’s re-elected, that might happen. But, basically, no one really wants to deal with it in advance. It is not a problem of immediate concern in Americans’ day to day lives, and the pain of dealing with it would be politically unpopular. But, that which can’t be repaid, won’t be: we’ll have to do something about this, and maybe sooner than we think. OTOH, if Trump really can engineer consistent 3% growth, we might get out of this fairly easy.

Alabama has effectively banned elective abortion. Naturally, the left and the FredoCons are up in arms over this. As we wait for the inevitable lawsuit and injunction, I’d just like to restate my views. Elective abortion is always wrong – it is a grave evil which puts anyone involved at risk of their immortal soul. Outside that, it is also entirely unjust – there is no rational circumstance in which one can justify the deliberate taking of an innocent human life. Even the rape exception is wrong: because dad was a beast doesn’t justify killing the kid. I fully understand the pain that some go through over this – but you can’t fix pain by doing a wrong thing.

Bill DeBlasio, mayor of the increasingly anti-Semitic New York City is blaming Trump for all the Julius Streicher wanna-bees he’s got in his town. This is because he’s a liberal and thus full of sh** (Hat Tip: Ace).

Mitt Romney is doing his best John McCain impression. I hereby un-cast my vote for Romney in 2012.

Open Thread

Mark Noonan8 Comments

Democrats are just doubling down on defending anti-Semitism – their latest gambit is to claim that our side is deliberately misconstruing statements, but that is just a dodge. The Democrats are caught in quite a bind: they can’t reject anti-Semitism because a substantial number of their supporters are overt anti-Semites (I’d guess it is around 20% of their base), but they also can’t openly embrace it. They are trying to thread the needle: how long can they? Eventually they’ll have to flop one way or the other.

Democrats are also becoming more vigorous in claiming that they’ve lost elections due to voter fraud. Projection much? I think that this sort of thing is more battle space prep in case the Trump Administration exposes the level of Democrat voter fraud.

The trade war, so-called, is heating up again: I think Trump is right when he says the Chinese are hoping they can wait it out until a GOPe squish or Democrat gets into office. We’re getting the usual shrieks of horror from the TruCons that we hear whenever their Corporate Donor Class is threatened. But, really, a brief look at history shows that the United States rose from agricultural backwater to global economic dominance under Protection. Free Trade is a great theory – but human nature denies the theory. People will cheat – and the more tyrannical the regime, the more likely there will be cheating. I think US policy should be to lower tariffs as much as possible – but that access to our economy is a privilege, not a right; and if you don’t play fair with us, you can’t sell here.

Joe Biden has a China problem. I was listening to a little bit of Rush while I was driving around and one of his callers suggested that Trump-Russia was a bit of deflection to keep us from looking closely at the connections between various American politicians and China. It is a reasonable idea: the Chinese dispense vast amounts of money in various ways, and our Ruling Class would have to be holy to refuse the bribes (and it ain’t holy).

Tim Conway died:

Open Thread

Mark Noonan40 Comments

Remember Valerie Plame? Well, after her 15 minutes were up, she seems to have gone down the road of anti-Semitism…which may now make her a prime Democrat House candidate.

People are making fun of AOC’s latest brainstorm: a non-profit banking system run through the US postal service. Don’t make fun of it. You must view AOC as a junior-league Lenin. A Stalin-wannabe. She’s a tyrant in the making. Given this, of course she’d want to get banking into government hands…and then make the dispensing of loans based upon political rather than financial calculations. The perfect Leftist system is where everything you do is controlled by government and you can only do things (ie, live) if you are approved by the government.

I’m kinda hoping the Cubs go another 108 years without a championship.

Bio-pic about Tolkien’s early life – looks pretty good; understandable complaint about them excising Tolkien’s vigorous Catholic faith…but, that’s just Hollywood playing to a mostly non-Catholic audience.

Don Surber points out that China is likely thinking at the moment they can outlast Trump…just wait until another Democrat or GOP squish gets in there. I think the Chinese will find they miscalculated.

Open Thread

Mark Noonan38 Comments

Not one Democrat Presidential candidate has condemned the Hamas rocket attacks on Israel. Only two Democrat Senators have condemned the attacks (Rosen D-NV and Sinema D-AZ: and tip of the hat to both of them). The Democrats have made the choice that joining up with Islamists is a better future than defending Jews.

Side note: this conflict goes on until one side wins, and the other loses. The Palestinian leadership – which makes its money off of war and suffering – will not quit until forced to quit. Only the massive application of firepower upon the Palestinians until they all come out, hands in the air, will end this.

Feminists and Conservatives are joining forces against the misbegotten “Equality Act”:

The Equality Act just passed the House Judiciary Committee last week, and it threatens to erase protections for women — protections that benefit women and society as a whole. Legislative and policy “reforms” proposed in this dangerous bill will lead to blatant violations of our safety, privacy, and dignity.

Under this bill, men and boys will take away women’s small business grants and hard-won spots on sports teams; they will be allowed to live in women’s domestic violence shelters and use our locker rooms. And united as women, we are just not going to stand for it.

To illustrate their case, they note the story of a man who identifies as a woman being seen naked in the women’s sauna (by teenaged girls): when the incident was reported the power of the State was brought forth to force everyone to apologize to the guy exposing himself to little girls. It is good that there can be a united fight against pure insanity – but Feminists should think a bit deeper into this. It is the tearing down of societal norms – including the norms which say that certain tasks are for men, others for women – which lead us here. As far as allowing anyone – of any condition – to do whatever their talents allow, no one can have any complaint. But thinking that a woman can be a successful infantryman is just as absurd as thinking a man who identifies as a woman should be allowed to parade around the girls locker room. Men and women are different; they bring in many cases entirely different things to the table; it is the cooperation of the feminine and the masculine, as distinct things, which makes humanity human.

The Daily Caller has a story about how the money (about $100 million) provided to Flint, MI to remediate it’s water issue is being relentlessly misused – the most egregious thing, in my view, is the awarding of high priced contracts to a company with no experience in the work, while more experienced companies were denied contracts. It is a grift: the people who run Flint – ie, the criminally negligent people who created the water crisis – don’t give a damn about the people, and are merely using the bonanza of government dollars to line their own pockets. All of these are Democrats – and all of them will be “re-elected” or, at least, replaced with people who are just like they are. We need to start thinking about what to do – consistent with our federal values – about States and cities which are so badly misgoverned that we can’t rely on sane policy being pursued.

Trump’s counsel has sent a letter to AG Barr ripping the Mueller report pretty hard – on the grounds that Mueller didn’t follow the special counsel rules in writing his final report. I had noted that Mueller would make his report as lurid as he could, and he did. What Democrats are latching on to right now is Mueller’s statement that he couldn’t conclusively prove that Trump didn’t break the law. But Mueller’s job wasn’t to say one way or the other about that – his job was to see if there was a crime, and if there was, then to prosecute it. As he’s not prosecuting Trump or any Trump associate for collusion or obstruction of justice related to the 2016 campaign, Trump has been exonerated. Mueller deliberately muddied that fact.

A pro-baby killing Pennsylvania Democrat is proving himself to be just about as much an a**hole as you’d think.

Open Thread

Mark Noonan38 Comments

The New York Times is worried that the revelation that the Obama Administration spied on Trump will lend credence to Trump’s claim that the Obama Administration spied on him.

The MSM – all at once and all together – decided that Louis Farrakhan is a far right person. It was when Farrakhan got banned by Facebook along with some other people, some of whom were actually of the right. You might recall the time the MSM labelled George Wallace a Republican. So, like that; but, also, different. A very large number of major MSM outfits called Farrakhan far right…almost as if there was a memo that went out and the MSM just transcribed it as news.

A ten month old child died when the raft she was crossing the Rio Grande on tipped over. This is 100% of the fault of American liberals who encourage people to make these dangerous journeys.

1938 video of Civil War veterans.

We’re going to need a bigger Navy. A lot bigger. I think Trump instinctively understands this, but I don’t see any admiral out there ringing the alarm bell and really pushing a naval buildup. We need a Jacky Fisher.

California High School is thinking about removing a picture of George Washington because it is too traumatic for some students. The name of the school? George Washington High School.

Yeah, our government is still spying on you.

President Trump proposes to give the Border Patrol power to decide asylum cases on their own. Makes sense: make a fast judgement on their asylum status. If they’ve got a good case, let them stay…if not, back home they go.

Trump’s magic wand at work again as US Steel gets ready to invest a billion dollars in a new Pittsburgh steel plant.

Liberal Democrat justifies abortion by suggesting if we don’t kill them in the womb, we’ll just have to kill them when they are adults.